Words of Power: Voices from Indian America

by Norbert Hill AISES

Here are tribal members¥ insights on spirituality, land, leadership, conflict, treaties, environment, men, women, children, education, and peace.

Genres: History

72 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1994

Reviews

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short collection of quotes from Native Americans. After a short introduction, it's just quotes grouped into chapters by theme. There are no notes about the quotes, but there doesn't really need to be any.

I went into this book half-expecting something akin to a Native American Tao Te Ching. That was, of course, an unrealistic expectation. Once I got over that, I enjoyed the book much more. I even went back and reread the initial sections I had originally read in a less than ideal light. I wound up marking several quotes throughout this short book. Some chapters are still way better than others, particularly the "Community" chapter which was actually close to the sentiments of Buddhism.

The part that still surprised me the most was how modern the majority of the quotes are. Most are from the 1990s. But that makes sense since there weren't many people writing down quotes from Native Americans in the 1700s, 1800s, or early 1900s. It's interesting to compare the words and sentiments of the historical quotes with the more contemporary ones.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful collection of indigenous voices, wisdom, and spirit. I am eternally grateful to the authors for compiling this book. Thank you.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quotations from American Indians